A Case of the Mondays
by Wes Defendiver
Summary: Another Monday Fic but with a few twists. Characters from other movies and what could be a blossoming relationship between Brian and Allison. Read 15 and Review, please! Thanks!
1. Brian's Morning

**A/N: I know that some characters in this story are from other decades and would be considered anachronisms, but this is, after all, just a work of fiction. All music mentioned herein and characters from other films are property of their respective creators. Anyways, let's get on with the story.**

It was 7:00 AM. Brian Johnson didn't need to be at school for at least a half hour, but he had already eaten breakfast, showered, and dressed in an argyle sweater and khakis with a pair of white Keds. He looked over at his new mode of transportation with an eager grin.

The truth was it was nothing more than old moped from 1979 that his sympathetic father picked up for him after feeling sorry about failing something as trite as Shop Class. What mattered to his father, Steven Johnson, were his son's academic grades—which were flawless at all A's.

With this speed machine, he'd be the envy of all his friends. After all, only Duckie Dale had any mode of self-transportation other than their parents' cars—and it was just an ordinary bike. Sadly, none of the brains at Shermer High had acquired a driver's license. He hopped on the bike and started it with a kick motion of his foot. He strapped on his backpack, and checked his safety helmet, and goggles, then sped out of the open garage door.

As Brian made his way up his street, he the sound of screeching tires caught his attention as he idled at the stop sign. He looked around, seeing the silver Pontiac Firebird that had almost rear-ended him. The driver had gotten out; he recognized the face.

"Hey, Geek! Watch it!" The driver was Mike Dexter, Shermer High wrestler.

"I believe you almost rear-ended me." Brian had noted meekly.

"My dad just bought me this! You almost busted the grille!"

"I was at a stop sign. What else was I supposed to do?" asked Brian.

"You were supposed to not ride that piece of scrap metal!" Dexter was getting furious with this guy.

"But, I—"

He was cut off as Dexter pulled him off his bike, and soon had him in a full nelson.

"Ahh! Let go, Mike!"

"Not until you apologize for nearly wrecking my car!"

"I was there first!" Mike only answered by tightening the hold, which caused a yelp from Brian. Then Brian caught a familiar face of the passenger in the car. It was Andrew Clark. He hoped he'd say something to help him out, but it looked hopeless when Clark just shot a look as if to say, "I wish I could do something." Mike threw Brian on the ground and got back into the sports car and sped off by the fallen boy, leaving him in a cloud of dust that made him choke. He got up took off his helmet and goggles then walked his moped back to his house and just walked to school feeling defeated.

Eventually, he was about halfway to school when he spotted a silver BMW at a red light with Claire Standish in the passenger seat. She looked over at him and noticed his eyes were red like he had been crying or something. She gave a half smile as he just nodded in acknowledgement. She really wanted to give him a ride the rest of the way, wanted to ask him what happened, ask about the gash on his cheek. But, she just shrugged it off, not wanting her Dad to get involved. The light turned green and off she went. Brian felt terrible. That was two of his supposed friends that he thought he made on Saturday at detention that ignored his helplessness today and he wasn't already at school.

When he was ready to trudge on, a blue Buick stopped next to him and Allison asked if he wanted a ride. Brian just got in the passenger side seat and felt grateful Allison hadn't forgotten him; he kind of liked her, anyway. Allison pulled into the school parking lot eventually asked him about his appearance. He recalled the events of the past fifteen minutes as she listened.

"Andy just sat there as he did that to me." Allison just listened on disgusted at what she thought was a special person.

"Claire just drove by, too. I hoped she'd offer to give me a ride but she just smiled and waved."

Allison just punched the steering wheel and then patted him on the shoulder and gave him a hug.

"Don't worry" was all she said was she handed Brian his backpack and they headed for the front door of the school. Brian just rushed into the bathroom stall and wept.

Allison found Andrew outside of the gym and walked over to him.

"Hey." He smiled and went to say something else, but was cut off abruptly.

"Jerk!" was all she said.

"What did I…" He tried again.

"You just watched as Mike did that to him! How could you? You knew he was depressed! He told us on Saturday why he got it in the first place!" She just stormed off leaving Andy bewildered. He just shook his head and started getting a massive stomach ache from his guilt. He needed to find Brian at lunch today.

Allison went to the area by the cafeteria where the popular kids hung out and looked for Claire. She also had a few choice words but first she saw Bender.


	2. Room 107

John Bender was standing by his locker smoking a cigarette when he noticed Allison walking up to him.

"Hey, Kook! How's it going?"

"Bad," She said in a serious tone.

"What happened?"

She told John the gist of the story from what Brian had told her.

"And your _girlfriend _just sat there and watched. She could have offered him a ride at the very least! I ended up driving him to school."

"I'll go have a talk with Sporto and his buds."

"You sound like you _care_," Allison noted sarcastically.

"Look, no one deserves to be pushed around by a Jock!"

Allison looked worried. She remembered how Andrew and Bender fought in detention on Saturday, she feared for the worst.

"Don't do anything crazy, okay?" Allison knew that was hopeless. Bender and crazy were quite synonymous.

"I won't hurt them. I'll just talk to Sporto about it in private, okay?"

Allison just sighed in resignation.

"Fine. I hope he's alright."

"He's probably in the crapper. I'll go talk to him. I need to finish this butt before Vernon gives me another Saturday." Allison just smiled and waved. As she did, she noted there was about 20 minutes before homeroom would be called. She had enough time to start on a new sketch. With that, she walked off to vacant corner and got out her art supplies.

Brian sat in his stall and had just thought about how terrible today had already been for him: school hadn't even started and he already wanted to just leave. Andrew wouldn't help him from getting beat up, Claire wouldn't even ask him what was wrong. He figured all he had left from the Club was Allison and maybe Bender, knowing what a jerk he could be.

Just then, a knock at the stall door was heard.

"Occupied." Brian tried to make it sound like he was fine.

"Come on, Ralph! Get out here!" Brian left the stall and saw it was John Bender, as he figured it was.

"Allison mentioned what the Sports did to you before school."

Brian just lowered his head in shame.

"Look, not even you deserve to be hassled by the jockstraps. So, I'll make it up to ya."

"How?"

"I'll eat lunch with ya on the steps out front."

Brian looked up with a smile "Really?"

"Yeah. Now I'll invite Ally, and we'll talk later, I got stuff to do."

"Like smoking pot?" Brian asked rhetorically.

"Just a few puffs before History. Now get outta here."

Brian shrugged and walked off with at least a chance to talk it out with people who would listen to him. He turned left and headed into his homeroom.

In homeroom 107, the popular girls at Shermer surrounded Claire. They were in the midst of their usual morning gossip.

Amy Adams started the conversation: "Ugh. I can't believe Blaine fell for that loser Andie Walsh!"

"She dresses like my grandma! I can't believe he brought her to Steff's party last week!" Heater Blake noted.

Bennie, the tall blonde girl, observed Claire looking up as Brain Johnson walked in at sat next to Cameron Frye. Brian looked over at Claire and gave her a subtle wave. Claire gave a smirk and returned it. Bennie then interjected:

"Did you just smile at Brian the Brain?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh. Why do you ask?" Claire sensed this conflict would happen if she had been seen even acknowledging Brian's existence.

"Because, he's a _nerd_!"

"He's in Latin, Math and Physics club!" Amy added making a gagging motion with her finger. Brian started walking over to the table and with his eyes down cast muttered: Hi, Claire."

"Hey, Brian" She slightly smiled.

"I thought you might…you know.. want to hang out at the arcade this weekend if you aren't too busy?"

"I'll have to think about it. I might be busy."

"The whole weekend?"

"Yeah.. We'll see."

"Oh, okay, well call me." He slid her a folded piece of paper with his number on it. Brian went to walk off as Bennie stuck out her foot and tripped him and Brian fell flat on his face. The room erupted with laughter as he got up and the bell rang for first period. Cameron walked beside him as they strode of to Physics class.

"Nice move on Claire." Cameron spoke up.

"Yeah, she's just an acquaintance."

"I really don't think girls like arcade games, dude." Cameron said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, it won't be so bad, right?"

"Yeah, guess not."

A thin, bespectacled figure walked up to them. He was dressed in what looked like a prep school uniform: a navy blue blazer, tie, khakis, and white sneakers.

"Howdy, gentlemen!" He said gleefully."

"Hey, Fischer," they both replied in unison. Max Fischer was president of the Latin and Math club, not to mention, astounding playwright for Drama. He was a true, blue friend of the geeks and misfits at Shermer High.

"Ready for Latin today, guys?" He asked with a tone of excitement.

"_Semper Paratus_" They all said as they did every morning before their first period Latin class. Before they knew it, Mike Dexter, Chet Donnelly, and Brian McAllister all surrounded the trio.

"Hey, dorks!" McAllister laughed and stole Brian's backpack, hoisting it above his reach.

"Give that to me, Brian!"

"Make me Brainy!"

McAllister held it over the trash barrel trying to make him reach for it.

"No! That's mine!"

"Hey, lay off!" They all looked over at Ferris Bueller, Easily the coolest guy in school.

McAllister reluctantly tossed Brian's backpack to him.

"You're lucky Ferris was here!" The jocks just walked off as the late bell rang for first period.

"Thanks, Ferris! You bailed me out again!"

"Anytime, Brian, anytime at all. Let's get to class!"

With that the group walked off towards Latin in room 120.

Claire thought back to what happened in homeroom and just sighed. She looked at the paper that read: "**Brian 587- 2397**" and put it in her back pocket. She figured she owed it to him after all that happened today; She figured she would let him know of her decision at lunchtime.


	3. Lunch

The day was half over by lunchtime, and Brian was feeling better about himself by now. He had gotten A's on his History and Math quizzes so far and had a big Latin test to study for this week. He'd probably study with his friends in Latin Club on Wednesday. He'd be free to study, be with his friends, and not be troubled by his mother about study habits.

He found his usual table with the usual brains: Wyatt Donnelly, Max Fischer, Ted, Cliff, Bryce, Larry, Cameron, and Gary Wallace. There were a few of them to watch out for each other, but they weren't much for confrontations. Max had an air rifle in his locker but that was about it for their protection from jocks or any one else that messed wit them. Cameron spoke up in between bites of baloney:

"So, Brian asked Claire to the arcade this weekend." All his friends looked up stunned. Ted looked up from his lunch tray.

"Brain, chicks don't enjoy video games like we do, man."

"Especially popular ones like Claire Standish," agreed Cliff, who looked up from his discussion about Area 51 with Bryce.

Brian just sighed openly.

"Fine, maybe I'll just ask her to eat pizza with me." His compatriots all nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget about Root beer!" Cameron added, hastily.

"Root beer!" They all chanted in unison, it being the favorite of the group.

"Excellent for late night studying and concentration when video gaming," Bryce decided to speak up, adding his expert knowledge to the discussion. Max Fischer looked up from reading _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, and nodded.

"Root beer; it's the nectar of the gods!" She'll totally accept!

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the cafeteria, Phil "Duckie" Dale walked in, but not before a few yuppies that were dressed in slacks and polo shirts surrounded him .

Steff just tripped him as he fell face-first into his bowl of chili. The nearby onlookers just burst into laughter. An orange street hockey ball whizzed by and nailed Steff in the calf and he screamed falling to one knee.

A figure in a gray shirt, black cutoff shorts and a Jason-style hockey mask joined the brains as the figure lifted up his mask revealing his face.

"Allo, wankers!"

"Hi, Magnus" they all managed to say.

"I'm shaping up for this season! Plenty a pissers for target practice, eh?" Magnus slipped more and more into his Scottish brogue.

"Any a you guys seen that pisser Johnny Bender around?" They shook their heads.

Brian remembered something and spoke up, "He should be out front, Buchen, I'll help you find him; I have to see him, also."

He turned to his comrades and nodded as they returned the nod and let him be excused from the table. Magnus picked up Duckie, and handed him n old towel to remove the chili from his face and walked on.

"Hey, Duck man!"

"Hey Brian! I'll save your seat!"

"Thanks." Brian and Magnus found Bender and Allison out in front of school.


	4. Conflict

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Yeah, I decided to add a few Rushmore characters; I had that planned from the conception of this story. I hope to have the reviews keep coming in! Here's Chapter 4.**

Magnus and Brian sat on the steps by Allison and Bender. Allison winced and made a faintly audible squeak at the Rugby forward-turned Shermer's most aggressive varsity soccer player (or football as he called it, being of Scottish descent). In fall, he was goalie for Shermer Hockey. Magnus sat down beside John Bender and lifted up his hockey mask so it was perpendicular to his face.

"Johnny Bender! How are ya, mate?"

"Fine, Magnus, and to what do I owe your presence?"

"Well, I do recall you owing me money; twenty dollars to be exact. I don't give out packs of Winston's for free."

"Well, look, Buchen. I–"

"Listen, Bender! You pay me now, or you'll be getting to know what a slap shot to the temple feels like!" Magnus Buchen was the only person who could actually intimidate John Bender. He may have cigar burns on his arms, but he could hide those. Buchen had part of his ear missing from a Rugby game; this guy was a magnet for injuries.

Bender just handed him the bill.

"Listen, I'll need a favor."

"What's in it for me?" Buchen was a rather shrewd dealer.

"How about… I get Ally here to paint some nice stitches on your mask?"

"Deal. Now what do you have in mind?" Bender always made peace with Magnus by having him do odd favors.

"Go see Andrew Clarke, and tell him to meet Allison after school. Oh and give a hip check to Mike Dexter for messing with Brian."

"With pleasure!" Magnus cried with joy. He was picked on a lot by the jocks for playing soccer. It was huge in Europe and almost everywhere else, but regarded as a kiddy sport in America. He made up for it by being brutal on the field—bad off. Magnus Buchen also used his hockey equipment to his advantage as well. He picked up his gear and trotted off to fulfill both their whimsy.

Meanwhile, Claire and her group of friends were gabbing away as usual. Claire looked over Brian's handwriting on the small piece of notebook paper. She figured she _would_ go and hang out with him at the arcade. She would prove to herself, Brian, and everyone that she wasn't conceited. Amy Adams grabbed the note and read it.

"Brian?"

"Oh. Yeah." Claire hoped no one would get deeper into it than this.

"Isn't this that geek from homeroom's number?"

"Yes. But he has a name, you know."

Bennie, being second most popular spoke up.

"What do you care? He wants to drag you to the arcade! You could be doing something better!"

"Like shopping!" Heather noted with a smile.

"But, what if Brian's a nice guy?" Claire thought she'd at least try and defend him.

"Are you his girlfriend or something?" Bennie joked as the girls burst into chuckles.

"I mean, I'd rather date John Bender than any of those computer nerds!" Amy continued. Claire had enough of this at this point.

"Just drop it, okay guys?"

"Yeah, you better drop it, and drop that Brian kid, too. He'll be following you around like a lost puppy and you'll totally lose your chance for prom queen."

Claire was relieved as the bell ended lunch period and the students started dispersing. Claire looked around for Brian's number but noted that Amy had placed it in her now empty milk carton, and tossed it into a trash barrel. Claire just sighed and just thought of what she'd have to tell him. Either lie and ditch him, just ignore him, or tell him the truth and let him know how she barely tried to defend him. Last week, he was on the verge of suicide, and she wasn't helping matters. It seemed no option was going to work out. Or she could just use the student directory and retrieve it that way. She was saved!

"Boo!" Allison was standing behind Claire for however long and she jumped.

"Oh, it's just you!" Clare felt relieved but not for long. Allison just glared at her.

"You saw the whole thing, right?"

"Yeah."

"Look—"

Allison just shook her head and walked off without a word.

Claire had to do something.


	5. A Promise Going Home

The final bell had rung for the day. The students all headed off to lockers, the parking lot, or their extracurricular clubs. John Bender slung his ratty old backpack that looked like it was quite a few years old over his shoulder as he walked home, taking his usual route across the athletic fields. He looked over at the bike rack by the school's entrance and noted Max Fischer getting on his Schwinn bicycle that was fashioned like it's 50s counterpart.

Max started to pedal out towards the street when a tan Ford Bronco sped out recklessly nearly hitting Max as he pedaled off the curb. It's driver honked the horn and yelled out the window, "Watch out, poindexter!" Roy Clarke sped off leaving Fischer in a cloud of exhaust fumes. Bender just shook his head and headed by Max without a word. Max just pedaled on home to his modest house at Riverdale Street. A modest home in Shermer's middle-class neighborhood. He spotted Brian Johnson and gave him a wave as he turned right, towards his home.

* * *

Brian waved quickly at Max Fischer and began to walk home. He made it through today. He was only attacked, thrown to the grown, tripped and ridiculed. Andrew did nothing while Mike Dexter just assaulted him. Claire had at least acknowledged him in homeroom; he hoped she would at least call him. Bender had lunch with him and had Magnus hip check Mike after school. He felt decent about that. But, who knew about Bender. Allison stopped beside him, and offered him a ride, which he gladly accepted. Brian had been thinking about Saturday; he decided that he really did like her. She kissed Andy after detention got out. But after today's fiasco, who knew what would become of all this.

* * *

"Brian, I need to tell you something."

"What's that: Brian hoped it wouldn't be anything too bad, her voice had taken on a grave tone.

"Just before lunch ended, I watched Claire and her friends talk about how you gave her your number." Brian suddenly felt like he did this morning after being thrown to the pavement.

"Her friend tossed your number. I doubt she'll call you."

"Can't you give it to her?"

"I guess, but I don't know."

"Just do it, please?"

"Alright."

"So, maybe I could call you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'd like that. I think I'll eat lunch with you, too."

Brian just grinned, "That'd be awesome!"

"Don't worry, I won't abandon you." She pulled up to his house and gave him a slight kiss on the cheek. Brian just looked wide-eyed at her.

"I'll um. I gotta go. Bye!" Brian just fumbled with his backpack and seatbelt and stumbled into his house. Allison just smiled and thought about how she felt around Brian as she drove home.


	6. Two Conversations

Brian Had just walked in the door and went to his room. He tossed his backpack on his bed and looked around. There were large bookcases containing various works of fiction and nonfiction books. He saw his poster of the Periodic Table of Elements on the far wall above his desk where he labored most of his time so that he could get into Yale or Harvard or Dartmouth. He also saw above his bed, the Elvis Costello poster, and the enlarged black and white photo or the capture at Iwo Jima. He thought about what just happened a few moments ago. She had _kissed _him! It was still on the cheek, however. But, how many girls would do that to a guy of his social standing? _None_, he thought to himself— Except Allison. Her words still were in his head: _I won't abandon you_. Brian had managed to get his homework done earlier than usual because he didn't walk or take the bus today. He checked the clock on the wall after he finished the last quadratic equation of Mr. Ryan's homework. It was almost 7:30 PM. His phone upstairs rang, and he walked over and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Brian," said the female voice; he never really had any female callers before Saturday.

"Claire?"

"Yeah, it's me." Brian couldn't believe it she had called! He started to tense up.

"So, you remembered my number?" He knew from Allison what really happened, he just felt like just testing her.

"I got it from the student directory."

"Allison told me that—"

"Yeah, my friends did do that. They seem really aggro about me socializing with someone outside of the cool circle." That made Brian flashback to homeroom this morning, falling on his face.

"So, about us doing something this weekend?"

Claire knew it was coming; she took a deep breath and began.

"Brian, I'm not that into video games."

"I know. I figured maybe as an alternative we might go have pizza?"

"That sounds like fun." Brian smiled to himself having felt he had done it.

"But, I'm going to the mall."

"That's fine. What if I meet you there?"

"No, I mean with my friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What?"

"You said 'no' when I offered to meet you." Claire felt trapped now, she knew she couldn't talk her way out of things with people like Brian or even Allison. They were observers: they saw her group and watched everything, knew what every hidden meaning to the words were. Often times, because they were used to their face to not seem so harsh in people's eyes.

"Bender was right." Claire was taken aback .

"What?"

"Your friends. They control you."

"They do not!"

"You probably have a walk-in closet the size of my room. You don't need to shop at the mall." Claire knew he was right. She could manage without ever buying another thing for the rest of high school.

"Brian, you're a nice guy."

"I'm keeping my promise I made Saturday. I even wrote our group essay, remember?" Claire trouble finding the right words to say.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going now. Maybe you'll change your mind. Bye."

"Brian."

The phone just buzzed of the disconnected line. Claire hung up and thought about Brian. He just wanted to be accepted. He wanted friends. She called him back.

"Hello?"

"Brian. Maybe we could have some pizza while you tutor me?"

"Tutor usually means _use."_

No, nothing like that! I want to learn this stuff."

"What do you need help with?"

"Physics mostly. I don't know how long I'll last in Waverly's class. I could manage a C or a D average but colleges wouldn't go for that."

"Well, ok fine. But, promise me you'll show up."

"I promise. "

"Well, I have another call, so I'll let you go."

"Alright, how's tomorrow after school sound?"

"Fine. See you then."

"See ya."

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Allison"

Brian smiled to himself

"Hey! I'm glad to hear from you!"

"So, maybe you could come over for a bit?"

"Sure, sounds fun!"

"Should I pick you up?"

"If you want."

"Alright maybe we could go to the arcade?"

"You like video games?" Brian thought about it for a second.

"I'm not your average girl, you know." Allison laughed a bit.

"Yeah. I'll be waiting for you."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Brian took a shower and got changed and waited in the living room for Allison's car.


	7. First Impressions

**A/N: Yeah, not that you cared, but here's the start of Brian and Allison's big date.**

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Brian watched on with many of his other friends as Allison cleared wave after wave of aliens in _Defender II_. She blasted away with lightning reflexes as she rescued helpless human after human, adding to her growing high score. Soon enough, she made contact with a small, pixilated, asterisk, and the screen flashed pink and her game was over. Brian's friends all watched in awe as Allison easily beat David Lightman's high score on _Defender_. David was the local Arcade champion and hacker guru. He still had all the other high scores to his name, so he wasn't so shaken by this defeat. These guys still couldn't believe a girl had that much dexterity skill. Brian wasn't surprised in the least. Allison could play the piano with her toes among other things.

Allison took Brian by the arm and dragged him outside. It was slightly cold, but her Eskimo-like parka kept her quite warm. Brian was dressed in a pair of slacks and a sweater vest. The cold wasn't a bother to him, either.

"That was really great! Who knew you could play games like that?" Allison just smiled at him.

"I play a lot on the weekends after I finish all my homework. My parents don't care." Brian nodded impressed. He looked across the street to the local mall.

"Let's get some pizza?"

"Sure, sounds good."

Allison proceeded by grabbing his arm and tucking it under hers. Brian felt a strange knot in his stomach. He never made contact with girls like this before. They entered the mall. Brian tried acting casual, despite his inner feelings. He looked around the food court ,and spotted Claire and the other popular girls across from them. Brian looked over and saw Claire and wondered if she saw them? He looked over at Allison and shed gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. They walked past the table and went on to go eat.

"Looks like Einstein has a girlfriend," mumbled Shannon.

"Yeah, but I guess they fit together," Claire tried a neutral statement.

"Yeah, he's the super geek and she's the psycho." The table erupted in laughter. Claire piped up a bit, "She does great in her classes; she made honor roll last term."

"You pay attention to that freak?" Amy looked over and shook her head.

"Well, I sit in front of her in English."

"Not like they'll win any award for best couple or anything," Heather interjected as the group nodded.

"Hey, maybe they just like each other?" Claire said a bit loudly.

Bennie had gotten fed up about this geek talk and got up to leave, "I think it's sweet you pity those weirdoes, but we have to go shopping." The others followed suit towards the boutiques.


	8. Dinner Date

Andy sat watching TV when he heard the phone ring. His parents had taken his sister shopping, so he reached over and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Andy. It's Claire."

"Oh, hey what's up?"

"Not much. I just got back from the mall. I saw Brian and Allison." Andy thought back to Monday morning; Brian left lying on the street and Allison yelling at him later for not doing anything about it.

"What were they doing?"

"Oh.. Well I don't know how to say this, but.. I think they're going together." Andy just sat there taken aback. He really liked Allison a lot, or he felt strong enough about her. They had kissed before his dad picked him up that Saturday. He didn't know what to think. He had to fond out what happened.

"Claire, could you talk to her for me?"

"Sure thing. What are friends for?" Andy sighed thinking back to Brian. He needed to try and tell him he was sorry, try and console him.

"Claire. Try and talk to Brian for me, too. I'm not sure if he'd wanna talk to me."

"Alright I'll call you back when I'm done."

"Thanks a lot. Bye."

"Bye." Claire hung up and dialed a new number.

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"Hello?"

"Hey, Allison."

"Hi, Claire." She figured it had something to do with tonight's events. She let her continue.

"Well. It's about Andy."

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's just that I told him about you and Brian, and well I think he might be upset about it." Allison sighed.

"I think there might be a connection between us."

"What about Andy?"

"Claire, Andy is a great guy. It's just that he's scared. He's too controlled by his dad, his coach, and his sport buddies. Brian isn't afraid to let me know how he feels. I mean, Andy just let Mike Dexter just rip Brian in half. Brian's a wreck inside, but he'll let me know. He's suicidal and nursing some deep wounds. You may let your friends trip him and Andy may let his friend use him as a rag doll for their wrestling moves, but I'm here for him. I won't abandon him."

"I didn't abandon him either!"

"Yet, you never said anything. You let him get tripped, let them throw away his number, and let them trash him day after day. I've already met all his friends. We all played video games. They'll accept me." Claire sighed. She knew she could've said much more.

"While you're at it, tell them about Bender. You've got us. We'll be here even if they aren't." Claire knew it was true. She was getting quite adept at keeping all of her emotions to herself.

"Look, I'm having Max Fischer over for dinner. I'm opening up."

"Max is a gifted soul." Allison had helped do set work for his plays. He really dug her artwork.

"Well, he's helping me with Latin."

"Well maybe you could have Brian over to show him you don't mean anything?"

"Great idea! You could come, too."

"Well, I'm sure this will help you get to know how the other half lives."

"I just hope Brian will forgive me."

"I'm sure he will. He's caring. I'll go call him and let him now."

"I was going to call him and let him know Andy wants to make peace."

"I'm glad. Let me know how everything turns out."

"Alright, will do."

"Bye."

"See ya."

Claire hung up and got to calling Brian. She waited for someone to pick up.


	9. Leaving Before Dinner

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating. College has made writing a bit hard. But I try to trudge onward. In case you forgot, it's dinner time at the Standish house. Brian and Allison and a few unexpected guests appear. Read on!

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Brian, Max, Wyatt and Magnus were being inspected by Mrs. Johnson. She made sure they were all properly dressed for attending dinner with Shermer's elite family, the Standishes. Brian was in a navy sweater vest with khakis and a dress shirt and tie. He had to once again borrow his dad's dress shoes, which troubled his mother to no end. Max had taken the occasion like any other day, wearing his blue blazer with Dockers khakis and a tie. Wyatt was in a white dress shirt and black slacks, accompanied by a bowtie that looked quite silly on him. Magnus the aggressor, looked well enough in his rugby shirt and tan shorts.

"You boys have a good time."

"We will, mom."

"Is that girlfriend of yours giving you all a ride?"

"Yes." Brian turned a reddish color at the mention of that word. He knew Allison liked him in that way. He could tell by all the telltale actions—the hand hold, the kiss on the cheek—it all pointed in that direction.


	10. Help

Claire sat on her bed looking at the walls of her pink room. She pondered what had happened that evening. Yes, she had told her dad that she invited her tutors over. She was still insecure about what her friends would say if word got out she had that band of misfits at her house. Then she thought about Saturday.

"That's an academic club. Academic clubs aren't like other kinds of clubs."

"Your friends look up to us."

"You're so conceited, Claire."

"I Would not, and I will not. Because I think that's real shitty."

"I was just considering my options."

"You think I don't understand pressure, Claire? Well Fuck you! FUCK YOU!"

She let out a slight scream. She picked up the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

* * *

Andy was having another one of his post-workout meals that could fill a good-size grocery bag. He finished a second banana then the phone rang. He picked it up and managed to say, "Hello," while still chewing. He swallowed, then tried again.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Andy?"

"Oh, hey Claire. What's up?'

"Look, mind if we talk?

"Sure, why? You alright?"

"Yeah, look. I invited Brian, Max, Allison, Wyatt, and…Magnus at my house about an hour ago—"

"Magnus.. Buchen?" Andy couldn't help but chuckle at the name.

"Ugh. Yes! Magnus The Butcher Buchen!"

"So, what happened?"

"Well, I kind of told my dad that they were my tutors."

Andy just laughed. "Magnus Buchen, as your tutor.! What does he help you with? Gym?"

"Andy, I'm being serious!" Andy stopped kidding. He thought Claire was going to cry by the way she almost choked.

"Look, that wasn't the coolest thing to do. I'll talk to them, try and work things out."

"Thanks, Andy."

"Any time."

They both hung up and Andy dialed a number and heard it pick up.

* * *


	11. Truth

**A/N: Just a short break. A few vignettes with some characters.**

* * *

Allison Reynolds was sitting on the couch in her doctor's office. Her parents sent her there back when she was a freshman to maybe help her along the way into adolescence. She hardly ever wore any color other than black or other neutral colors; she never talked about her problems; she enjoyed doing odd things with her feet for fun; she wrote in notebooks and was outdoors a lot doing sketches and drawings, which were quite extraordinary.

So, now here she was, visiting Dr. Barnett. She was staring up blankly at the office's white ceiling.

"So, Allison. What's new in your life?"

"I met a boy."

This caught her attention. Allison had long talked of avoiding or feeling alienated from most people. She decided to delve into this matter.

"Who is he?"

"His name is Brian. I met him at school."

"And tell me about Brian."

"Well, We've kind of got a thing."

"You're seeing him, you mean?"

"Yes. We started going out maybe a week or so ago."

Dr. Barnett thought to herself and made a sort of grimace. It was odd hearing Allison say those words, feeling love for someone after knowing her introverted-self for so long.

"What is he like?"

"Well, he's really smart. He's in a few academic-related clubs. He studies and reads lots. He's friends with all the misfits of school. He's in a few of my honors classes."

"So, he's a good student. You two have that in common."

"Yeah, but his parents can really strict. His mom always wants him to get straight A's."

"I see. They'll put him through Harvard or Yale and he'll get a PhD?"

"I guess. He got an F in Shop class and almost killed himself."

Dr. Barnett just stared wide-eyed. She wondered about her beau and how his parents must have pushed him to think about suicide. Allison had spared her the details about the flare gun.

"Is he alright?"

"Well, he gets pushed around at school a lot. The jocks beat him up Monday and the popular kids talk behind his back and humiliate him."

"I guess he's got it rather tough?"

"Yeah, he's hurting, but I'm helping him along. I want him to know I'm there for him. I know what it's like to be an outcast or called a freak. It's not fair."

"I was once your age, too you know."

Allison just shrugged it off. She liked her shrink, but figured she never went through the anguish Brian went through. Allison decided to show her the sketch of Monarch Butterfly she did for Art class.

"Impressive, Allison. Are you going to add some background scenery?"

"I'll probably have it be on a milkweed or something."

Dr. Barnett nodded and took more notes in her notebook.

_He gets pushed around a lot._

Brian sat on a wooden green park bench while he jotted down the procedure he used to solve the math problem he was on. He was finding the system of a pair of equation as he meticulously went through inputing variables into formulas.

"So, if X equals 1, then Y equals..."

The loud engine of the Pontiac Firebird that cruised by nearly made Brian jump out of his seat. He looked over and saw Mike Dexter, Brian McAllister, and who else? Andrew Clark, in the sports car that eerily pulled to the curb and shut it's engine off. Andrew thought back to Monday and how Brian was nearly cracked in half by a full nelson. He got out and stayed behind the other two cautiously.

McAllister grabbed an old apple that was near his shoe and tossed it at Brian, and scored a bullseye as it hit his notebook and sent his books and papers on the ground in an unorganized mess. Both of them stood on either side of the bench Brian occupied,blocking ny chance of him escaping. Andy just stayed a few feet back and watched.

"Hey, geek."

Brian just figured it would be better just to ignore them, like his mom always said.

"When I talk, you better look at me!" McAllister was still pissed about not getting the chance to wail on Brian that Monday; Ferris had stopped him.

"I just want to do my homework, if that's alright with you guys," Brian said, meekly.

Mike Dexter chuckled, "I remember Monday, when me and Andy almost wrecked this kid's moped! Hey, Does your mom know you stole her hairdryer?"

"I don't want to fight you guys."

"Fine we won't fight. We'll just take this."

They grabbed his backpack and tossed it back-and-forth to each other while Brian chased then trying to get it back.

"Hey, Clark! Catch!" Mike tossed the knapsack to him. Andy caught it in both his hands and just laid it beside Brian and motioned for his friends to get back to the car. Mike and Brian just shrugged and jogged back to Mike's car.

"Andy, you coming?"

He just waved them off and they drove off.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, thanks Andy. Your friends can be real jerks."

"I know. I just figured I'd start making it up to you since..."

"Monday?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, um.. Do you need a ride?"

Andy looked at Brian's dark green moped and let out a slight chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"On that thing?"

"Hey, I know it's no Pontiac, but it gets me around."

"Yeah, you're right." Andy hopped on the back and held onto the metal bar end of his seat as Brian mounted in front of him and gave it a kick start. Brian strapped on his helmet and looked back at Andy.

"Where's your house?"

"Ash Street."

Brian nodded and sped off as the buzz from the small 50 cc engine resonated through the street.


	12. The Bender House

John Bender sat on his bed and observed his room. It was sparsely decorated, only containing his bed, a work desk—which was his final project for Shop last semester—a radio, his dad's old record player which was a halfway decent shot at giving John Jr. a birthday gift, and a small TV.

John Bender, Sr. was a rough guy. He was a machinist at Shermer Metal Works. It was one of the handful of industrial businesses that employed those of the middle class and those who weren't so well off. This section was cutoff from the rest of the town by The railways that went onto Chicago and further outbound, hence the popular phrase: "The wrong side of the tracks." The Bender family happened to live on the less-fortunate side.

In his heyday, the elder Bender was much like his future son. He hung around with the local gang of hoodlums, had a few drag races, shoplifted when money was tight, had scuffles with the Jocks, bullied the geeks, and tried getting lucky with many a female. After getting through high school with D grades, he started off doing odd jobs at a few local stores. After that, he started as a parts cleaner and machine operator at Shermer Metal Works. He eventually became a topnotch welder by his mid-twenties.

Eventually, John Bender, Jr. would enter his life (more so by fate than his actual wanting of a child at this point). Sheila and John tied the knot shortly after that. As he got older, John started showing the traits of his old man. Deciding this was inevitable, he just let it slide, figuring that his son would just follow the motions and end up a C or D student.

At present time, his father had grown intolerant of his son's behavior. After racking up about two weeks worth of Saturday detentions for being smart with the vice principal, he increased his already hard discipline. Luckily, John knew when to quit—A man with a toolbox was nothing to mess with—the wort he ever got was a cigar burn at this point in time.

His father would be coming home from work soon smelling of oil and grease from the shop. His father really liked his son's work in Shop class. It reminded him of himself, and that his son wasn't a complete fuck-up. He figured he would make something this week for his dad, maybe just to get him off of his back for a bit.

He walked over to his record player, blew the dust off of his dad's ancient copy of _Paranoid_ by Black Sabbath and played the album's title track. He sang along with the loud music coming out of the worn out hi-fi system. There was a loud banging on his door.

"Johnny, turn that down!" He opened his door and tried yelling over the stereo

"What?" His mother walked in and turned the volume down until it was muted.

"Your father's coming home, and if he hears that racket he'll break your nose!"

"Why not? Dad digs Sabbath."

"Yes, but at a _reasonable_ volume!"

"Yes, ma'am." His mother went back to cooking dinner and John raised the volume slightly nd resume sitting on his bed. He figured the slightest thing would start another episode at the family dinner tonight. He just relaxed in the tranquility of his room, with a slight lull of Ozzy in the background.


	13. Past and Present

Brian sat looking at the blank piece of notebook paper in front of him. He was a pretty decent writer. He could always do fine when interpreting a work by John Keats, or Samuel Coleridge or any other of the English Romantics. He always squeaked by on original poetry assignments. He wasn't writing poetry at the moment, though. He was just writing a letter—or attempting to at this point. He looked at the wall that his desk was up against and fixed himself on one object.

There was a photograph of him with his arm around a female and a few of his other academic club friends that went. She had fine, shoulder-length brown hair; she had on a bright yellow raincoat, as if she were expecting rain. Brian was dressed in an old sweater with green and red horizontal stripes. He remembered his dad gave it to him for one of his birthdays, and that it was cold around Niagara Falls in early Spring. Her name was Katherine—the Jane Doe he told Bender about on Saturday. They met at an aeronautical expo, which their math club adviser took them to the previous year. The guy was nuts about planes. He especially making large models of World War II-era planes.

Katherine was like no other girl he knew at the time. She really enjoyed reading a lot of older literature. She enjoyed building models out of matchsticks. She wanted to be an architect or an engineer one day. Brian felt totally at ease with her. She didn't mind his mumbling, or how he often rushed things when he was nervous or excited. She was a competitor in her school's math club. Brian was quite impressed that a girl could solve polynomials in record time. Katherine wished that they would go to some ivy league school together in the future.

He wrote her monthly. Now it was time for this month's letter. He sighed and started writing.

_Dear Katherine,_

_How is New York? I really miss you. How did your math competition go? I bet you did great! No one can tackle Euclidean proofs like you. Sometime next month the school's science fair will be starting. I'm not sure what, or if I should enter this year. Any ideas on what I should enter. _

_Anyways, what I really wanted to tell you is that I'm seeing someone. Allison is a girl from school. She's no master of geometry like you, but I'm sure you guys would get along if you ever met. She's been able o help me through some awkward times right now. I hope you won't be upset with me. You're really great, Kat. I hope we can still be the best of friends. Who knows? Maybe I could bring Allison up to Niagara this Summer? Let me know what you think. I'll probably elaborate more on these problems I spoke of next month. Until then, I look forward to hearing from you._

_Your friend,_

_Brian_

Brian packaged the letter and addressed it. He put a stamp in the corner, and put it on his desk. He put a cassette tape in the black tape deck and pressed play to resume it's playing position. Brian just sat next to his stereo and listened to _Allison _by one of his idols, Elvis Costello, and thought of his favorite basket case.


	14. PE

**A/N: I know it has been quite sometime, but please forgive me. Comments are welcome, as always. I tried getting out some of characters' feeling here. I hope I did alright.**

It was Thursday. John Bender sat on a bench and flicked his lighter while listening to the hum of the fluorescent lights above him. Every now and then the muffled commotion of bodies exerting themselves to their maximum potential escaped through the solid walls of the boy's locker room. Bender thought about how silly it was. Why get all sweaty, he thought. He didn't feel like ruining his clothes with his own foul stench for no good reason—he already smelled of cigarette smoke.

He decided to roam the halls of his domain. He opened the door to to locker room and saw someone sitting by the wall.

"Hey, I didn't know vampires came out at this hour."

Allison looked up from her sketch pad.

"You shouldn't mess with a vampire. I'm sure you've heard of Vlad III?"

"Who?"

She sighed and resorted to using layman's terms.

"Dracula."

"Oh! Yeah. The spooky bloodsucker."

"Well actually, that's just from the novel. Some say the real Vlad Tepes liked to impale his prisoners. Some say it was done to about 20,000 people during his reign in Transylvania."

Bender just smirked

"I'm sure glad Dick doesn't have a temper like that."

Allison went back to her sketching. John looked over her shoulder.

"What do we have here, Picasso?"

"A Monarch Butterfly enjoying a milkweed."

"Aren't butterflies a bit too appealing to a rather dark person like yourself?"

"Well, this one is pretty nifty; he's got toxins running through him that he gets from eating milkweed, which make him taste icky, and leave his potential predators with an upset stomach—if they don't die first, that is."

"You know all this _how_?"

Allison just smiled, that was always a rare event for her.

"Reading. You should try it sometime."

"I _do_ read."

"Your dad's porn doesn't count."

"You're a comedian. Why don't you talk _National Geographic_ with Einstein? I heard from Claire you guys are an item."

Allison nodded

"What happened with muscle-head?"

Allison sighed, She thought back to Saturday's detention, and the feelings she had for him at the time, and how they kissed as they got picked up from school.

"Look, Andy still can't shake off his detractors; he's still afraid about what others think of him. He just watched as his wrestler pal almost turned Brian into a pretzel. Brian's a weirdo like me; he's not afraid of who he is or who his friends are, or that he's with me. I can imagine Sporto breaking under the pressure of his peers and family about dating me."

"Well, that's why I make my thing with Claire not so obvious. It worked for Romeo and Juliet, didn't it?"

"Actually, they both committed suicide." Allison's wit always found a way to stealthily sneak into conversations.

"Must you always do that?" John clearly was getting aggravated.

"What? Correct you?"

"Yes! I mean...No!...You know what I mean!"

"I don't, actually," she noted with just a hint of sarcasm that was reaching its apex.

"Look. I'll be back." John just needed some time to cool off. He didn't have anything against Allison, just the fact that she was using wit, sarcasm, and snappy comebacks—beating him at his own game. He admired that in Allison. He was just about at the stairwell when he heard hos name being yelled from behind.

"Bender, you skipped my P.E. Class! I'll make sure you get a Saturday detention for that!"

John just smiled to himself as he walked up the stairs, knowing that Vernon already had him booked for the rest of the month.


	15. A Party

Andrew Clark was walking the halls with pride. He had won Shermer a spot in the semifinals in the state wrestling championship last week. After the match in three weeks time, he'd be in the state finals, and he could be state champion for the second year in a row. He knew scouts from top schools around the country would be watching his performance; some already were, coach Frazier told him so. IU would be a most-likely first choice, seeing as how he was already a local. A scout from there already wanted to interview him at the end if the week about a possible sports scholarship.

"Hey, Clark! Great job!" The voice came from the right side of the hallway and soon it caught up to him in the form of the wrestling team's captain, Steven Dudek, but everyone knew him simply as Stubby. He gave his teammate a slap on the back to congratulate him on his advancement to victory.

"Wow, man! I never though you could pull off a full nelson like that."

"Yeah, my dad's been having me practice for that match the entire month, I'm just glad I'll be able to relax for a couple days. That is, until my dad starts _boot camp_ up again

Andy just sighed to himself, knowing his dad wouldn't be happy until the day he got accepted to college on a full, athletic scholarship—"the ride" as hid dad called it. He couldn't blow his ride on easy street. He'd get a free ride for doing what he did best while living in a dormitory away from his obsessive dad, away from the pressure of performing as expected. He could go at his own pace and start living life for once. Stubby interrupted his brief daydream.

"In honor of our success, I'm so throwing a party tonight! You really need to come." Andy shook his head.

"Nah,I think I'll just pass on that. I really should get training."

"Come on, man! You missed my last bash due to detention. You owe it to yourself after all that hard work you put in for the team." Andy just shrugged him off again.

"Dude! Claire Standish will be there! She's probably _the_ biggest babe in Shermer!" Andy perked up at the mention of that name; he thought back to Saturday and how he mentioned the last of Stubby's parties to her.

"See, I knew you'd be interested if I mentioned her!"

"Look, Stubby, we're just friends."

"Buddy, just go tonight and talk to her. It'll be a good time. All the cool kids will be there. Plus, Claire's free. If things work out between you two, you could so get with her." Stubby forced his point home by playfully elbowing Andy in the ribs.

"I guess you're right. Yeah, what the hell, I'll go." Stubby smiled and slapped him on the back.

"There ya go! Don't worry, my parents won't be home until Monday, so we can have a crazy time, bro! Just stop by around 7:30 and bring a friend or two!" Steve ran off as the bell rang, which signaled the beginning of the next period. Andy sauntered off towards his Chemistry class.


End file.
